There’s a lot of talk following the Financial Times’ claim that Apple CEO Tim Cook could require in early 2026.
Even if he does retire next year, he could become the next chairman of Apple’s board of directors. As MacRumors notes: Apple’s current chairman is Arthur D. Levinson, who turned 75 on March 31. Apple has a policy that states that its directors generally may not stand for re-election after age 75, so Levinson has reached that age limit ahead of Apple’s next shareholder meeting, which is when he would otherwise be up for re-election next.
Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber and some other commentators have speculated that Apple may have intentionally fed the information about Cook preparing to step down to the Financial Times, so that the actual announcement and the timing of it does not come as a complete surprise to investors and the general public.
From Gruber: I don’t think there are many people, if any, outside Apple’s top executive team and board of directors who have any insight into Cook’s thinking on this. That “several people” spoke to the FT about this says to me that those sources (members of the board?) did so with Cook’s blessing, and they want this announcement to be no more than a little surprising.
° From former Google Ventures partner and Slack director MG Siegler: The fact that there are four reporters bylined on this 330-word post suggests that this is more than just idle speculation based on some loose chatter and more that this is a potential trial balloon on the idea that at least some people “in the know” are floating out there.
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